"Tuning the Instruments", dir. Jerzy Kucia
The "Polish School of Animation" came into being in the second half of the 1950s as one of the most interesting artistic phenomena of Polish post-war culture. It was strongly connected with the "polska szkoła plakatu" / "Polish Poster School" and its emergence coincided with the "national schools" animation movement, which was particularly intense in the late 1950s- early 1960s. The movement was initiated by Jan Lenica and Walerian Borowczyk. Their jointly made films "Był sobie raz" / "Once Upon a Time" (1957), "Nagrodzone uczucia" / "Love Requited" (1957), "Dom" / "The House" (1958), and "Sztandar Młodych" / "The Colours of Youth" (1958) contributed to the breakthrough in Polish animated film which thereafter became imbued with allusions to complex contemporary issues.
Despite the fact that both founding artists moved to the West, a diverse, multi-generational group, known abroad as "the Polish School", has developed in the country thanks to the work of Witold Giersz, Mirosław Kijowicz, Daniel Szczechura, Kazimierz Urbański, and younger arists, such as Stefan Schabenbeck, Ryszard Czekała, Julian Antonisz, Jerzy Kucia, Zbigniew Rybczyński, Jerzy Kalina, and Piotr Dumała. Their artistic output, appreciated worldwide, has influenced a subsequent generation of filmmakers, currently studying and making their film debuts in Poland. Outside of Poland, the school has been named one of the most interesting in world animation of the last fifty years.
The Polish animation season featured four screenings and aimed to bring back the school's most valuable achievements, starting from the films that made it into the mainstream, as well as other, lesser-known works. The season also aimed to introduce the most interesting and, at times, controversial achievements of young Polish animation.
The program was divided into four screenings: two films reflecting Polish animation classics, followed by two other productions, which came as recent debuts from the youngest generation of working filmmakers. The screenings were accompanied by informational bulletins on films and filmmakers, as well as press and Internet publications. There was also a panel discussion about polish animation featuring director Wiola Sowa, whose film "Refrains" was shown as part of the programme.
Full Programme:
I
Kineformy/ Cineforms, real. Andrzej Pawłowski (1957, 6’45’’)
Zmiana warty/ The Changing of the Guard, real. Włodzimierz Haupe, Halina Bielińska (1958, 7’30’’)
Dom/House, real. Walerian Borowczyk, Jan Lenica (1958, 11’)
Szkoła/The School, real. Walerian Borowczyk (1958, 6’30’’)
Labirynt/Labyrinth, real. Jan Lenica (1961, 14’15’’)
Igraszki/ Playthings, real. Kazimierz Urbański (1962, 7’)
Czerwone i czarne/Red and Black, real. Witold Giersz (1963, 6’30’’)
Słodkie rytmy/Sweet Rhythms, real. Kazimierz Urbański (1965, 6’30’’)
Wszystko jest liczbą/ Everything Is a Number, real. Stefan Schabenbeck (1966, 7’30’’)
Koń/The Horse, real. Witold Giersz (1967, 6’)
Worek/ The Sack, real. Tadeusz Wilkosz (1967, 8’)
Hobby, real. Daniel Szczechura (1968, 7’)
II
Podróż/ A Trip, real. Daniel Szczechura (1970, 6’30’’)
Syn/The Son, real. Ryszard Czekała (1970, 9’45’’)
Apel/The Roll-Call, real. Ryszard Czekała (1970,7’15”)
Test I, real. Józef Robakowski (1971, 5’15’’)
Bankiet/ The Banquet, real. Zofia Oraczewska (1976, 8’15’’)
Portret/Portrait, real. Stanisław Lenartowicz (1977, 7’45’’)
Droga/Road, real. Mirosław Kijowicz (1971, 4’30’’)
Pierwszy film/The First Film, real. Józef Piwkowski (1981, 9’30’’)
Refleksy/Reflection, real. Jerzy Kucia (1979, 6’)
Tango, real. Zbigniew Rybczyński (1980, 8’)
Solo na ugorze/ Solo in a fallow Field, real. Jerzy Kalina (1981, 7’)
Łagodna/ Gentle Spirit, real. Piotr Dumała (1985, 11’)
III
Franz Kafka, real. Piotr Dumała (1991, 16’)
Drgająca struna – Chordofon z IV suity s-dur., real. Rafał Bartkowicz (1995, 5’30’’)
Maski/The Mask, real. Piotr Karwas (1998, 5’)
Romans dżentelmena/ Gentleman's Romance, real. Tomasz Kozak (2000, 10’)
Strojenie instrumentów/ Tuning the Instruments, real. Jerzy Kucia (2000, 15’15’’)
Śmierć na 5/A- Grade Death, Real. Mariusz Wilczyński (2002, 3’40’’)
Katedra/ The Cathedral, real. Tomasz Bagiński (2002, 6’30’’)
Po jabłkach/After Apples, real. Marta Pajek (2004, 5’30’’)
Niestety/Unfortunately, real. Mariusz Wilczyński, (2004, 13’)
Sztuka spadania/Fallen Art, real. Tomasz Bagiński (2004, 6’)
Zoopraxiscope, real. Hieronim Neumann (2005, 11’45’’)
Ichthys, real. Marek Skrobecki (2005, 15’)
IV
Śniadanie/The Breakfast, real. Izabela Plucińska (2006, 2’20’’)
Wiek kamienia/The Age of Stone, real. Marta Skrocka (2007, 8’)
Dokumanimo, real. Małgorzata Bosek (2007, 10’)
Sekwens/Sequence, real. Robert Sowa (2007, 8’)
Refreny/ Refrains, real. Wiola Sowa (2007, 13’15’’)
Wywijas/Inside Out, real. Andrzej Jobczyk (2008, 5’30)
Laska/Stick, real. Michał Socha (2008, 5’)
Ukryte/Hidden, real. Piotr Szczepanowicz (2009, 7’)
Kto by pomyślał?/Who Would Have Though?, real. Ewa Borysewicz, (2009, 10’41’’)
Esterhazy, real. Izabela Plucińska (2009, 25’)
Rytuał/Ritual, real. Zbigniew Czapla (2010, 5’30’’)
For more information, see:
www.etiudaandanima.com
www.rotunda.pl
Date: 31st of August- 1st of September, 2011
Venue: Polish Embassy, Beijing
Organised by: Stowarzyszenie Rotunda
Project cofinanced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute